Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Hi, all, I'm back with some more grad cards. The first one I made for a neighbor who graduated from HS this May. These are not his school colors, but this card really came about while I was playing with some new SU goodies--the Hexagon Hive framelit die and the Retro Fresh DSP. Sent is from SU, little arrow heads are from CTMH, and cap is from PTI. Colors are Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana, and Tangerine Tango.

The second card was for his twin sister. I used Laughing Lola from CTMH for the CS and patterned Paper. Stamps are PTI "For the Graduate". I embossed the cap in gold and popped it up. Their school colors are black and gold, but purple makes me think of her.

Sorry about the uncropped photos--for some reason I couldn't get them to go into Picasa.

Monday, May 26, 2014

To qualify for the prize, be sure to use at least 1 Cricut cut on your project and if it's not obvious, let us know what cartridge you used.

Graduation cards are always hard for me for some reason. I don't know why--maybe because there is an element of bittersweet along with the joy and celebration. Maybe also because there is a bit of a limited set of images you can go with LOL! In any case, what I usually do is try to use the school colors of the graduate. Our school colors are black and gold. I just got this paper a few weeks ago and I love it! It's called Kaleidoscope from SU. This particular pattern made me think of confetti, so I knew I wanted to use it. The black chevron embossed paper is from CTMH--it's very glossy and cool. I just got THAT and wanted to use it too! So there may be a bit much pattern on here, but I like it.

I really like this cut from Wrap It Up--I like the font. And I thought I would make a 3.25 x 6.25 card. It's a great size for a money card, and let's face it, money is always welcome at graduation! Then I decided I wanted to make it a frame card. I found a cut on the Gypsy Wanderings cart and resized it appropriately. Then I copied it three times. On one copy I hid the oval cut to make a solid piece, then lined it up with the original and welded the two pieces together and cut it out of PTI white. Then on one of the other copies I placed the base cut for the "graduate" over my oval and moved it around and resized it until I was happy and welded that and cut it out of SU Crushed Curry. The third copy is what I cut out of the triangle patterned paper.

Next I used the same sized graduate base and shift cuts, again with the Crushed Curry and the cool black chevron embossed CS. So the layering goes like this: white card base, gold welded frame piece, triangle-patterned oval frame piece, gold base cut, and finally black shift cut. I think this card turned out kind of cool. But then I thought of an even cooler one, and that one I may share with you tomorrow, if I can get it made today. My dear husband has an awful summer cold, which he has now passed on to me! Still, if playing with my Cricut can't make me feel better, nothing can!

Have a great day and don't forget to play along with FCCB this week! Just make a grad project, use at least one Cricut cut, and upload it to FCCB--that's all there is to it!

~This Weeks Challenge~

To qualify for the prize, be sure to use at least 1 Cricut cut on your project and if it's not obvious, let us know what cartridge you used.

Good morning and I hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day! Today I'm showing you a card that I made from an SVG file from our wonderful sponsor--SVG Cuts.

So as many of you know, I am a papercraft addict. Therefore, it's not enough to have a Cricut--I also had to have a Silhouette Cameo too LOL! SVG Cuts has some absolutely amazing kits on their site--please go and check them out! Now that the new Cricut Explore is out (I don't have one yet!), you can now take advantage of these lovely files with a Cricut machine.

For this card I chose the Edisto Island kit. I am from South Carolina and have spent some lovely vacations on Edisto Island. This card was made using the Butterfly Lever Card file from the kit, along with the darling paper pack from SU's Sale-a Bration promo called Sweet Sorbet.

One of the things I LOVE about SVG Cuts is that they not only provide great SVG files, they give a detailed assembly PDF. AND they always provide a wonderful assembly tutorial video as well, so you have a LOT of help at your fingertips. Mary also talks a little bit about where she got her inspiration, what paper line she's using, and other ideas for each file. Great resource! This first pic is of the card closed.

Here it is open, with the butterfly completely outside on the front--

and here it is tucked behind the leaves. I couldn't decide which way I liked it better! You can see what amazing dimension this card gives you. I added even more by adding pearls to some of the flower centers.

Here is a top view, showing you the mechanism in case you have never made a lever card before. It also shows all the beautiful patterned paper. I love this card because the lovely prints are not covered up.

I added some punched butterflies to one of the interior panels--punches are SU.

Love the little scallop detail that is built right into the exterior of the card! And here is my Cricut cut--it's from CTMH Art Philosophy. I had a stamp from Elzybells that I wanted to use--I just love this stamp. So my label needed to be more "circle-ish" than "oval-ish".

I hope you enjoyed my creation today and that you will play along with us at FCCB this week! Just make a project celebrating Mom, use at least one Cricut cut, and upload it to the FCCB blog--easy peasy!

Have you bought an Explore yet? Do you love it? I have no place to put another machine right now, but someday my trusty Expression will go to that great craft room in the sky, and when that day comes, I will shed a tear and then buy an Explore!

Monday, May 5, 2014

~This Weeks Challenge~

Good Monday morning to you all! Today's challenge over at FCCB is to use patterned paper on a project. Today I decided to use a SVG file from SVGcuts, plus a Cricut cut!

If you're like me, you've been seeing these box cards EVERYWHERE! In fact, it's hard to find a card that ISN'T a box card LOL! So I took a deep breath and decided to try one. Of course it's a lot easier when you have an electronic die-cutting machine (or two!) to do most of the work for you. I used the Box Card SVG kit from SVGcuts for my project and my Silhouette Cameo. I used my Cricut and CTMH Art Philosophy for the cute little tag (sized at 1.25"). The "mother" stamp is from PTI's Mixed Messages.

Cardstock used is SU Wild Wasabi, Pear Pizzazz, Real Red, and CTMH Daisy. The patterned paper is from my stash and is by The Shabby Green Door. Ribbon and button are SU and I used yellow Stickles for the flower centers.

Here is a close-up of the cute little tag!

I embossed the strawberries with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder.

There's a lot going on in this basket! I thought it would be really hard to put together, but all the pieces are numbered (the numbers are cut into each piece), and there is a PDF file that comes with each kit that shows you how to put it together, plus they always make an assembly video tutorial. The pieces all fit together really nicely too. Honestly, it was much easier than I expected!

A lot of the box cards I've seen around only have 3 vertical layers. This one has 5.

And here is a pic of it folded flat to put in an envelope. A file for an envelope to fit each style of box card is included in the kit. I haven't made it yet though!

So, if you're hear then you're probably a papercrafter, and if you're a papercrafter, then you probably have a TON of patterned paper that you're hoarding. Set it free! Let it shine! Make a project using some of it and at least one Cricut cut and upload it to the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog. You could win some wonderful stamps from Mark's Finest Paper!

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About Me

I am married with 2 great kids. I am a perfusionist, which means I operate the heart-lung machine in open heart surgery. I moved to Wichita in October 2007 and I love it here! I've got a great group of stamping friends here, we found a church we love and a house we love. We have a dog and 2 cats.